St Margarets Circular walk
Quiet rolling Hertfordshire countryside, a haunted, ruined church and long stretches in scenic river valleys.

Thundridge Old Church
SWC Walk 165 - St. Margarets Circular
08-Nov-17 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Approaching Cold Christmas
SWC Walk 165 - St. Margarets Circular
08-Nov-17 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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The Ash River Valley
SWC Walk 165 - St. Margarets Circular
08-Nov-17 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Hollycross Lake in Autumnal Colours
SWC Walk 165 - St. Margarets Circular
08-Nov-17 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Amwell Nature Reserve
SWC Walk 165 - St. Margarets Circular
08-Nov-17 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Ash river survey
and they're definitely not walkers...well, not today anyway
18-Sep-13 • magyardave2002 on Flickr
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Hen party
Well, what were you egg-specting?
18-Sep-13 • magyardave2002 on Flickr
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Length | 25.7 km (16.0 miles), with 270m ascent/descent. For a shorter walk see below Walk Options. |
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Toughness | 5 out of 10, with 5 hours 30 minutes walking time. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 8 hours. |
Walk Notes |
This walk leads along ancient tracks and green lanes through some very quiet, rolling East Hertfordshire countryside defined by wheat fields and woods, in-between extensive stretches along the Ash, Rib and Lea rivers. Cold Christmas hamlet and a haunted, ruined church are passed just before lunch in Wadesmill.
Stile Count: 2; Arable Field Crossings: 330 metres. |
Walk Options | Shortcut I cuts out the outer loop of this walk to leave an hourglass-shaped walk of 19.5 km (12.2 mi), while also cutting ascent/descent by 66m, this is rated 3/10.
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Maps | OS Landranger: 166 (Luton & Hertford) and 167 (Chelmsford, only for a very tiny part)
OS Explorer: 194 (Hertford & Bishop’s Stortford) |
Travel | St. Margarets Station, map reference TL 381117, is in East Hertfordshire, 6 km south east of Hertford, and 29m above sea level. St. Margarets Station is on the Liverpool Street to Hertford East line (and within the Oyster Pay As You Go-area) with a half-hourly service, journey time 39 minutes (41 on weekdays). Trains stop at Tottenham Hale (connect from the Victoria Line). Buy a return to St. Margarets (Herts).
Saturday Walkers' Club: Take the train closest to 9.45 hours, if walking the full walk, and the one closest to 10.15 hours for the shortest version. |
Lunch | Long Walk
Short Walk
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Tea | The Jolly Fisherman 8 Station Road, Stanstead St. Margarets, Ware, Herts, SG12 8DH (01920 870 125). A McMullen’s pub with outdoor seating by the Lea Navigation.
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Profile | |
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Help Us! |
After the walk, we would love to get your feedback You can upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:
swcwalks
swcwalk165
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By Train |
Out (not a train station) Back (not a train station) |
By Car |
Start SG12 8DS Map Directions |
Amazon | |
Help |
National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Travelline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234 |
Version |
Jun-20 Thomas G |
Copyright | © Saturday Walkers Club. All Rights Reserved. No commercial use. No copying. No derivatives. Free with attribution for one time non-commercial use only. www.walkingclub.org.uk/site/license.shtml |
Walk Directions
Full directions for this walk are in a PDF file (link above) which you can print, or download on to a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone.
This is just the introduction. This walk's detailed directions are in a PDF available from wwww.walkingclub.org.uk